Cufflinks are tools for fastening shirt cuffs closed. They come in pairs, which add more elegance and styles to the clothing of men.

Shirts with a French cuff were originally fastened with a fabric tie because they didn’t have buttons to stop the ends from flailing. Cufflinks were introduced to solve the problem and to provide a more elegant and fashionable look – a way to flash a little metal. Cufflinks became a status symbol, and the tradition of wearing them on a French cuff shirt is still popular today all over the world.

They’re an alternative to the buttons that are commonly sewn onto shirt cuffs. The defining feature is that cufflinks are separate objects: sew it onto the shirt and it’s a button, but if it’s fully removable it’s a cufflink.

Just like buttons, cufflinks come in many shapes, sizes, styles, and materials. They usually offer a little more contrast than a button, and are considered a more ornamental option, but they’re not inherently more or less formal.

You should wear cufflinks when you’re in formal wear (at work, or at a party for example), and many people who wear cufflinks have a large collection to choose from. There’s a number of places you can buy cufflinks, such as in a suit shop or tailors, but you’ll usually pay a lot more for these than buying online.
Start wearing the cufflinks you’ve got and you’ll soon find yourself keen on collecting.